Floorstanding loudspeakers — Tannoy Westminster Royal GR

The Westminster Royal GR is a two-way, horn-loaded floorstanding loudspeaker in the Tannoy Prestige Gold Reference range, built around a 15 inch Dual Concentric driver, a coaxial layout the company first introduced in 1947. The UK price is GBP 54,995 per pair, the US price is about USD 60,000 per pair, and the warranty runs for 10 years. In 2026 Tannoy announced a centenary run limited to 19 pairs, the number pointing to its founding year of 1926, with revised crossovers and improved internal wiring.

Key specs that matter

The low-frequency section uses a 380 mm paper-pulp cone on a twin-roll impregnated fabric surround, moved by a 52 mm round-wire voice coil. Treble comes from a 52 mm aluminium-magnesium alloy dome with its own round-wire coil. Tannoy quotes 18 Hz to 27 kHz at -6 dB, 99 dB sensitivity at 1 W and 1 m, and 8 ohm nominal impedance with a 5 ohm minimum. Power handling to IEC is 175 W continuous and 700 W peak, nominal dispersion is 90 degrees conical, and maximum output reaches 121 dB continuous and 127 dB peak. Each cabinet stands 1,395 mm tall, 980 mm wide and 560 mm deep, holds 530 litres and weighs 140.2 kg.

Engineering and use context

An Alnico magnet system drives the coaxial unit, and a reverse-throat PepperPot WaveGuide, designed and made with computer tools, loads the high-frequency dome. The cabinet combines a front midrange horn with a rear-loaded compound bass horn behind a curved front baffle. Tannoy lists the crossover point as 1.0 kHz electrical and 200 Hz acoustic. The network is passive, hard-wired, low-loss and time-compensated, with second-order slopes on both the low-pass and high-pass sides, ClarityCap capacitors and deep cryogenic treatment. Two adjustments alter the treble - a shelf of plus or minus 3 dB above 1.0 kHz, and a slope of +2 to -6 dB per octave above 5 kHz. The enclosure is hand-built from high-density birch plywood with extensive internal bracing following Tannoy's Differential Materials Technology. Five 4 mm binding posts plated in 24 carat gold allow bi-wiring. Cabinets are dressed in oiled walnut veneer with hand-selected burr walnut inlays and carry a nylon grille.

Pairing

With its high sensitivity and benign minimum impedance, the speaker suits low-powered valve amplifiers as well as large transistor designs, and Tannoy recommends 20 to 350 W RMS. The bi-wired network also allows two stereo amplifiers or a bi-amplified setup. A large room with a solid floor is required.

Alternatives

The Tannoy Canterbury GR is a smaller two-way floorstander from the same Prestige Gold Reference line with a 15 inch Dual Concentric unit in a 235 litre cabinet.